Guys,

Since we all have a little more time on our hands these days, I wanted to share my positive experience with the Lyman Universal Press Stand should some of you be interested. I saw this come out a little while ago and was immediately intrigued. I've always dealt with the height of the press being at the bench, rather than at my chest/face level. It makes for an awkward angle for both sight and operation. I recently built a new reloading area and bought one to try. I will freely admit I wasn't expecting much in the way of quality or utility. WRONG on both counts! To illustrate, here's what I'm talking about:



Immediately upon lifting the box, I realized this was a more serious piece of equipment than I'd expected. The stand is made from 3/16" plate steel, nicely finished and machined. When assembled, it honestly weighs a solid 10 pounds. All the hardware is included to mount the stand to your bench and the press to the stand. They've thought of almost every press pattern on the market and even give you a blank side if you want to drill your own holes. I had to lightly Dremel only one of the holes in the RCBS pattern to fit my RS5 press. It fits perfectly now. When assembled, there is absolutely zero wobble or play in the stand. NONE. When mounted to the bench with 4 hex bolts, you'd sooner pull the bench out of the wall than jimmy the stand loose. It raises the press about 9" off the bench, which puts the window smack at about chin height when you're sitting. For reference, the top of my bench is 37" off the floor. This makes things vastly more comfortable when doing any reloading step.

I don't have any truly gigantic cartridges, but even when resizing big, straight-wall and Weatherby cases, the whole operation was solid as a rock. As you can see in the photo, there's a middle cross brace which doubles nicely as a shelf. I have some press and case prep accessories on it. The remaining real estate on top of the stand is sufficient to fit your container of bullets, bringing them much closer to the case when seating. It's a nice economy of motion. The last bonus is that at full extension, the press handle still doesn't come low enough to hit my leg, so I can sit closer and more directly in front of the press for better leverage and more comfort.

IMO, it's a slam dunk and I recommend you give one a try. For the ~$50 they're charging, it's a fantastic accessory.